US 6920125

US patent 6920125, titled "IP adaptation layer on backhaul connection of cellular network," provides a method and system for optimizing the transmission of small, frequently delivered data packets in a cellular network's backhaul connection.

Here is a concise summary of US patent 6920125:

• Title: IP adaptation layer on backhaul connection of cellular network
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Ltd
• Current Assignee: [Apple Inc.](/litigations/by-plaintiff/Apple%20Inc.) (Note: The patent information indicates that the listed assignees may be inaccurate and Google has not performed a legal analysis as to the accuracy of the list.)
• Inventors: Geng Wu
• Filing Date: 2000-10-27
• Issue Date: 2005-07-19
• Abstract: The invention addresses the inefficiency of transmitting small-sized data packets (e.g., 10-20 bytes) with disproportionately large TCP/IP or UDP/IP headers (typically 40 bytes) over the backhaul connection between a Base Station Controller (BSC) and a Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS) in a cellular network. To optimize bandwidth usage, it introduces an IP Adaptation Layer (IPAL) protocol. This protocol maps user connections, removes the large headers from these small, frequent information packets, and concatenates the data packets into an IPAL information packet. This IPAL packet is then tunneled over the backhaul connection, thereby reducing overhead and improving efficiency.
• Legal Status (as of 2026-05-29): Expired - Lifetime, expired on 2023-05-25.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Independent Claim 1 (Method for communicating): This claim describes a method for efficient communication to a mobile device in a cellular network. It involves a Base Station Controller (BSC) receiving various user data packets. From these, it selects data packets that are small (20 bytes or less of data payload) and prepares an "adaptation layer information packet" from them. This adaptation layer packet is then tunneled from the BSC to a Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS) over a dedicated backhaul connection.
• Independent Claim 15 (Method for communicating, with specific preparation): This claim details a method similar to Claim 1, focusing on the preparation step. After selecting small data packets (20 bytes or less), the adaptation layer information packet is prepared by concatenating multiple selected data packets into a single packet. An IP header is then added to this concatenated packet, which is subsequently tunneled from the BSC over the backhaul connection to the BTS.
• Independent Claim 27 (System for communicating): This claim defines a system for achieving the described efficient communication. The system includes a Base Station Controller (BSC) connected to a telecommunications network, and a Base Transceiver Subsystem (BTS) connected to the BSC via a dedicated backhaul. The BTS can communicate with mobile devices. The core feature is that the BSC is configured to receive user data packets, specifically select those with less than approximately 20 bytes of data payload, and then concatenate these selected small data packets to form an "adaptation layer information packet" for tunneling to the BTS.

CAFC 2026 Dockets:
A search of CAFC dockets for 2026 for patent number US6920125 did not yield any results. Given the patent's expired status as of May 25, 2023, it is highly improbable that there would be active litigation involving this patent in 2026.